School Days | A Shadow Slave Fanfic

Sunny's explanation of what he had went to was brief yet still supremely harrowing. So much so that Nephis nearly found herself emptying the contents of her stomach whenever Sunny commented on his interactions with Morgan. To her surprise, despite the multiple brand marks that Morgan left across his body, Sunny's body remained supremely pristine with the only blemish being caused by a glowing hot iron.

Although she wanted to ask, just glancing at the look on Sunny's face made all her lingering questions fade from existence. Currently, he didn't need scepticism, he needed a helping hand. Sunny's eyes were bulging out of his head as his shoulders trembled, memories of what he had went through flashing through his mind continuously. Not knowing anything else to do, Nephis pulled him in close to a hug.

"Don't touch me!" Sunny's exclamation was sudden, yet Nephis didn't listen. "I'm dirty, I'm a killer. You don't deserve to be stained by someone like me." His voice lowered as he quietly sobbed into Nephis shoulder. Her grip on him tightened as she ran a hand through his hair, her voice remaining soft and gentle. "It wasn't your fault; you didn't have a choice. There is nothing wrong with trying your best to stay alive Sunny."

Her words did little to quell his sobs as they only increased. Yet Nephis was there for him, she continued to hold him in the dark alley they were in for what felt like hours until Sunny finally gathered himself. "We need somewhere to stay; I'm not letting you live here." His voice bubbled with resolve as he wiped the tears off his face with his sleeve. Nephis placed a hand on her chin contemplatively.

"What's wrong with staying at my house?" She asked, tilting her head slightly to further display her confusion. Sunny shook his head rapidly, his shoulders almost trembling at the prospect. "They've already found out that you know me, you're too famous for them to not know where your house is. For all I know they've already placed a bomb in there!"

The idea of the maids, servants, all who had treated her wonderfully since her parents had moved to America dying was a harrowing thought. Yet Nephis pushed it to the back of her mind as she focused on the most pertinent issue. "I can buy us a hotel; we can live there for a little." She offered, Sunny's face reddened at the prospect yet nodded anyway. 

"We need masks. Gilead and his men might be anywhere, that's how they lure people into their sick hell. I have a mask that I left in the outskirts so we can get that, but we'll have to buy you one."

Nephis had never seen the mask Sunny referred to in his house, despite how hard she looked for things like his underwear or used clothes. Rather than attributing it to her lack of focus, she instead labelled Sunny as someone great at keeping secrets. Which was quite impressive for someone who didn't lie.

Soon enough, after darting from alley to alley, remaining unseen even to the most innocent looking individuals, Sunny and Nephis found themselves in the same road in the outskirts that Sunny had once been robbed in. And exactly like her last visit there, the three men who had once robbed Sunny surrounded him, levelling swear words that Nephis hadn't even heard of at Sunny as he stood there indifferently.

With an annoyed grunt, Sunny hissed out. "I don't have time for this." What happened next, Nephis didn't have the opportunity to see. It was a blur, Sunny's right arm seemed to blur out of existence as the three men found themselves in the air, their body twisted in awkward angles as gravity did the rest.

Before they even had the opportunity to hit the ground, Sunny grabbed Nephis by the arm and bolted forward, and in a matter of minutes they were at Sunny's old home.

Nephis let out pants of fatigue as she stared at Sunny, who was studying her form to see if she had been hurt. "H-how did you do that!?" Sunny cocked his head to the side before offering her a grin which was filled with melancholy pride. "Technique and speed, I have experience in fighting people twice my size."

Without waiting for a reply, Sunny turned around and began rummaging through a pile of trash that was located in the corner of his room. Finally, he pulled out a wooden mask which resembled a demon with almost perfect accuracy. Nephis couldn't determine whether the mask was made from wood or solid metal, but from the way Sunny reacted to it she knew it was precious.

Determined to find an answer, she allowed curiosity to overwhelm her awkwardness and spoke. "Where did you get that mask?" Sunny turned around and offered her a sombre smile, running his finger across the teeth that were engraved into the mask.

"It was the only gift my mother ever gave me. Sometimes I wore it to feel like I wasn't myself, to escape my own skin. At least now it's being put to better use." Nephis only nodded as Sunny shifted behind her, sliding the mask over her face before offering her a smile.

"There, it suits you perfectly! I like the contrast with your hair too!" Thankfully for Nephis, the mask managed to conceal the blush that grew on her face after being bombarded with compliments by Sunny. The mask was cold, feeling heavy with lingering emotions as Sunny stared at her for a moment before turning around.

Grabbing a ripped piece of clothing, once belonging to an old shirt of his, he tied it around his face before nodding to Nephis. Speed was pertinent, so Sunny picked Nephis off the floor and bolted to the nearest hotel room that he could find. Unfortunately, he had no clue where to find one, so Nephis offered him directions as he leapt unseen from rooftop to rooftop.

Soon enough, they found themselves in the reception of a building that was so tall it pierced the clouds. Its height gave Sunny a feeling of safety that he couldn't quite pinpoint, he wanted to be at the very top of the building, if he was, any enemy who dared to approach would need to take exorbitant amounts of time to reach him.

The feeling of looking down on people for once also helped.

And so, it was finally time for them to pick the number of rooms that they would be staying in. The receptionist remained tired and indifferent to the fact that they had facial masks covering their faces, after all, if they were offering money who was he to care about the details?

"So, how many rooms will you two be staying in?" Sunny glanced at Nephis, still clad in the onyx mask hiding her expression from view. And through the insidious machinations of fate, Sunny found that they both spoke at once.

"We'll stay in one room"

"We'll stay in two rooms"

Sunny stared at Nephis with wide eyes, surprised that she would even consider staying in the same room as him before relenting. "We'll stay in one room." He sighed, they were directed to a large room where they would stay for a moment as a room was assigned to them, thankfully, this gave Sunny enough time to question Nephis.

"Are you sure that you want to sleep in the same room as a guy? Aren't you scared that I might try something? Not that I'd ever of course!" Sunny's flustered expression was all too visible even beneath the clothing that covered his face. Nephis responded with a sly smile that went unseen as she licked her lips slightly at the prospect of Sunny trying something.

"I'm sure you'd never do something like that, and I don't want to leave you alone." She found that her voice was strangely distorted by the mask, Sunny seemed to notice as well but never paid it any mind. Perhaps he was already familiar with the masks strange effect. He could only shrug in reply as their room number was handed to them.

"Room 1125." He whispered, it was at the very top of the building. Nephis grabbed Sunny by the arm before leading them into an elevator, they weren't present with anyone else thankfully allowing Nephis to take off her mask. Sunny stared with panic as the doors of the elevator closed on their own as he turned to Nephis with wide eyes.

"The door closed in on us, we're trapped!" He exclaimed, Nephis only wore an amused expression on her face as she tilted her head slightly. 'He's so cute I just want to hug him forever!' she exclaimed before sighing outwardly. "It'll open once we get where we need to be." Pressing a button, she watched as Sunny's eyes widened further, it was clear he hadn't been on an elevator before.

As the elevator came to a stop, Sunny found himself stumbling at the sudden lack of movement as he fell toward Nephis. His face buried itself into her chest as his face turned crimson, launching himself backward with blinding speed. Yet inexplicably Nephis managed to act faster and wrap her arms around him, pulling him into a deep hug.

Noticing the elevator doors open, she slowly released Sunny from her grip as the two walked slowly toward their room doors. Pushing it open, Sunny's mouth opened in awe as he took in the pristine state of the room. Everything around him seemed to shine and the windows allowed him to look down on the entire city below him.

"It's a nice view, isn't it?" Nephis asked, Sunny nodded slightly as he continued to watch as birds flew by. "The sky is beautiful, thank you for bringing me here." He whispered, before turning to Nephis. She had already sat on the bed, playing with her hair idly as she patted next to her beckoning Sunny to come.

Surprisingly, she saw him shudder slightly, almost shrinking in on himself as she did the motion. "Did I do something wrong?" she asked, Sunny shook his head violently as his lip trembled, his mind forcing him to produce an answer. "No, it's just...Morgan used to do that whenever she wanted to-" Nephis raised her hand stopping him from finishing his sentence before sighing.

"It's fine, you don't have to do anything that makes you uncomfortable." A slight smile appeared on Sunny's face as he shifted from the window and sat next to Nephis, the distance between the two was small yet large enough for Sunny to feel comfortable. Nephis rolled over and stared at him for a moment, a silent question lingering in her eyes.

"Are you ever going to teach me how to fight?" Sunny's eyes sharpened, a look of seriousness that she had never seen before arriving on his face. "No. You don't need to fight, I'll protect you even if I die trying. That's all I'm good for anyway, violence." Nephis frowned in reply before grabbing Sunny by the back of the neck.

Pulling him closer abruptly, she could feel his nervous breathes tickling her skin as she struggled to hold back from kissing him. "You're amazing at many other things, you're caring, compassionate and the gentlest man I've ever met. I won't allow you to put yourself down any further. But we need to be realistic, if what you're saying is true, and tens of people will be coming after us, you can't do that all alone."

Realism. It was a concept that Gilead had forced into his mind throughout their thousands of spars. Find a goal you want to achieve and the most efficient method of achieving it, leave no room for doubt or unnecessary thoughts. Now, it was time for Sunny to put that principle into practice.

With a sigh, Sunny's eyes quickly became sombre as sadness smothered the embarrassment he felt from close contact with Nephis. "It'll be hard, and very painful, are you sure you're ready for that?" Nephis nodded, resolve burning in her eyes as Sunny relaxed himself.

No more words needed to be said, lingering adrenaline poured out of Sunny's body leaving only fatigue remaining as his eyes fluttered, unconsciousness preparing to claim his mind. Shifting away from Nephis, he moved to roll off the bed to find a comfortable place to sleep however two alabaster hands snaked their way around his waist barring his exit.

Nephis was equally as fatigued as he was, even more-so considering that she had never been moved at as high speeds as Sunny had moved her. Sunny's eyes widened as he realised, she wouldn't let him go. "Stay, you make me feel...safe." she whispered. Sunny could only nod as she shifted his arm and pulled it around her waist.

The two quickly drifted to sleep, finding solace in each others' arms. Neither were sure about the future, but the feeling of safety that both provided each other could not be denied even by the strongest sceptic.

Deep below the ground, Gilead's flowing golden hair made itself known as he stood before a young woman. She was eighteen years of age with flowing onyx hair and vermillion eyes that lit up the dark room that she was seated in. She had placed herself upon a miniature throne as she held a small phone to her ear.

"I belong to you Morgan!" The phone whispered, a small shudder made its way through her body as she quickly pocketed the thing and faced Gilead. "Any news on my lost property?" She asked, her head tilted boredly as she stared down at Gilead, who had dropped to a knee.

"We've found him, but before he could be collected, he ran out the room with a silver haired girl in tow. It appears he's found himself a lover." Morgan's expression quickly grew dark upon hearing the final words that Gilead uttered. Her grip on the armrest of her chair grew so much that it splintered slightly, sending pieces of wood flying around the room.

"All is well, we'll begin preparations to find him in a week. I'm sure he's let the peaceful life he's had dull his skills so this should not be difficult. Is there any news on that fiend's location?" Gilead shook his head, Morgan sighed disappointedly as she waved Gilead off, in only a moment, he glided out of the room sliding the heavy metal door shut.

Alone in the room, Morgan grabbed her sides and shivered with a mixture of fury and excitement. "Who does he think he is finding a lover!? Did he forget who he belongs to? He's MINE! And he'll always be MINE!"